Improvement in reaping-machines



-W- Fa. -KETCHUNL .Reaping Machin.

Patented 'March' 7, 1846.'v

Unirse *MT1-:s Affini Fries..

\VM. F. KETOl-IUM, OF BUFFALO, NFHY YORK..

IMPROVEMENT IN REAPlNe-MACHNES.

Speeilcation forming part of' Letters Patent No. 4,40l, dated March 7,l'crLlti.

To all wim/1t t 1111/14/ conce/11:

"le it known that l., WTM. F. KETCHUM, of hif'fal o city, county ofErie, State of N ew York, have invented a new and Improved Machine toReap Grain; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and'exact description.

The nature of' my invention consists in a reaping-niachine constructedof a simple framework of about six-feet square, on which is placed aplatform of' wood or iron. At the fore part are stationary pointedprojections or prongs of steel, Ewing-between two projections a spaceleft, between which the knives play. The prongs by themselves are slitor cleft horizontally in the projecting part, so as to divide said projecting part in two, of which the lower one is made considerably shorter,but leaving still a part of the slitthrough which in the whole widthofthe machine; a movable l blade of steel,with proper knives, (cut out,)is

inserted. The knives are sharp both ways, and in correspondence with thewidth of the prongs. The blade and knives are set in motion byelbow-levers, so that they move from side to side in quick succession,and through the said slit. The grain that approaches the knives betweenthe prongs is cut from both sides. The grain is previously to cuttingbrought to lean over the knives by a revolving apron with hangingprojections. As soon as the grain is cut by the said knives it falls ona square rolling shaft, which carries the grain to a platform where anattendant provided with rake pushes the grain from the platform againsta loose-hanging cloth, from where' it falls on the ground in good orderfor binding'.Y The reaping-machine is set in motion by horsepower, whichis attached on a beam connected with the rear part of the upper andlower frame-work of said machine, so that the machine is pushed beforethe horses. At the extremity of said beam is a single wheel on anupright shaft, the'shaft going through a hole in the beam. At the upperpart of the shaft is a cross-piece fixed, by which the driver may directthe machine at pleasure, in sitting or standingv on asmall platformfastened to said beam, the fore part of the machine resting on arevolving shaft, this shaft reaching the whole width of the machinefrom' side to side. On said shaft are fixed several wheels of a properdiameter7 these wheels having projections on their surface to preventthem slip- To enable others skilled in the art to make and use myinvention, l will proceed to de-l .scribe its construction andoperation, 'a'nd refer for illustration to the accompanying drawings,being a part of this specification.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the reaping-maehine. A A Arepresent the lower frame; B, the platform on which the giain falls; C,upright posts, l) l) D, the upper frame-work; E, the back plank, behindwhich the attendant' takes his stand; F, the beam, G, a platform for thedriver, H, the direction-wheel, l, the upright shaft; J, the cross-pieceVfor directing the wheels and machine 5 L, a brace for beam T and thelower frame-work, A, M M, a movable 'frame connected by hinges I) b tothe frame D', o o, the

`hangin g cloth against which tliegrain is raked from the platform B, N,a roller moving on pivots c c between the movable frame M M; O, anotherroller of a larger diameter, moving also ou pivots Ybetween the upperframe, l) D, both these rollers having projecting fiangcs Z d d d attheir extremities to prevent the revolving apron, which is between themexpanded, from slipping sidewise, the dotted line l? l showing therevolving apron, Q, a plank to cover the wheel-work, R It, iron braceswith screws to fix the movable frame M M to its proper place; S,arevolving square shaft with sharp edge for the purpose of carrying thegrain after being cut from the knives tov the platform B, T, an irongrooved 4pulley to receive the strap or string from the pulley U, whichis on the shaft O; V, the strap or string of the pulleys T and U, W' XV,the fore piece of wood, fastened to the lower irame in front of themachine. ln this piece are inserted and fixed the prongs c e c e. X X Xis the movable steel vknife-blade land the knives f ff; g g, clef'ts inthe steel blade to keep said blade in its proper position by the pins 7l71. h,- Y, a fender wit-h a wire, Z, to divide the grain before themachine, l, a cover over the main shaft and the driving-wheels, (shaftand driving-wheels are shown in Fig. 2 at 3 and 4;) 2, a cog-wheel onthe axle or shaft 3, Fig. 2, which meshes in the next wheel, 5, (5 and 6being on one axle,) (i meshing into 7, (7 and 8 heilig on one axle,) and8 meshing into 9. At the axle of this wheel is the pulley l() fixed,which communicates motion by the strap y to the pulley U on the shaft Oand the revolving apron l l?, the pulley U giving also motion to thesquare-edged shaft S by the string V. At the shaft ot' the pinion 9,opposite to the pulley 10, is a plate or crank, 11,-fixed. To this crankis a rod, 12, connected at the one end, and at the other end of the rodis an elbonelever attaehed,13, the other end of the elbow-lever, but bya staple, 14C, to the steel blade X X. 15 is the small platform or standfor the attendant, who has to remove the cut grain from the platform B.

Fig. 2 shows the reaping-machine in view from the under side. The sameletters are used at the same partstof the machine through all figures.Therefore a repetition of the same in Fig. 2 may be omitted. the.hanging projection on the revolving apron.

Fig. 8 represents the arrangements of the cog-wheels, pulleys, mainshaft 3, and the driving-wheels l, and partl)r the rod and leverconnected at lll with the knife-blade, a), a', a', Y, and V, the strapsor strings which connect the ulleysl0, ll', and T.

Fig. -L shows one of the prongs c inserted into the fore piece, \V, on alarge scale of actual size, the dotted lines a: showing the kniteblade,and ff the knives, ,1/ y, the cleft, and h the pin through the cleft;let, the staple to receive the one end of the elbow-lever 13, and l2 isa part of the rod from the crank 11.

Fig. 5 shows the steel blade, knives, and the cleft together.

'The operation of the said reaping-1nacl1ine may be described asfollows: The horses being attached to the beam F, the driver takes hisstation on the little platform g, and the attendent stands on the plankor platform 15. In driving on the horses the machine is putin motion,the driver directing the machineby turning the direction-wheel H by thehandle K. The driving-wheel 4 being rolled on the ground, by which themain axle or shaft 3 and :v x represent- The revolving apron being inmotion, and having the hanging projections a' x w w striking thestanding grain and bending the stems or straw in the progress of motionover the knives toward the platform B, the knives, being in quicksuccessive motion from side to side, cut the grain as fast as itapproaches the fore piece W'. The grain so cut will fall on the squareroller S. The roller, being in quick'motion, also carries t-he grain inregular order on the platform B, from where the said attendant with. hisrake shoves the grain from the platform l toward the hanging cloth (100o to the ground alongside of the track, where it will fall in good orderfor binding. The fender 1/ and wire divide the grainyin passing onbeforeit reaches the machine, and prevent grain or straw from arrestingthe operation by entering into or between the wheels, &c.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,isl. The manner ot' constructing the rackteeth, the same consisting oftwo plates of unequal length, and eachv set being made separate and notas a whole plate ils-heretofore.

2. The arrangements of having the operating parts-as thedriving-wheelsunder they platform on which the cut grain falls, asillustrated in the specification and drawings.

3. Using 011e or more revolving sharp-edged shafts, S', for the purposeof carrying the eut grain from the knife-blade to the platform l5, inthe manner set forth.

fituessesz PETER VON SCHMIDT, T. C. DOWN.

The square-eyed shaft S is set in mo- Y

